The Technicians´ Role in Digital Pathology Implementation. Searching Optimization.

  • Eduardo Alcaraz Mateos Pathology Department, Morales Meseguer University Hospital, Murcia, Spain.
  • Inmaculada Tortosa-Martínez Pathology Department, Morales Meseguer University Hospital, Murcia, Spain.
  • Carlos Alcolea-Guardiola Pathology Department, Morales Meseguer University Hospital, Murcia, Spain.
  • Susana Estévez-Ligero Pathology Department, Morales Meseguer University Hospital, Murcia, Spain
  • Ángeles Abellán-Palazón Pathology Department, Morales Meseguer University Hospital, Murcia, Spain
  • Alexandra Kundisova Faculty of Medicine, University of Bratislava, Slovakia
  • Andrés Nieto-Olivares Pathology Department, Morales Meseguer University Hospital, Murcia, Spain
  • Asunción Chaves-Benito Pathology Department, Morales Meseguer University Hospital, Murcia, Spain
  • Enrique Poblet Pathology Department, Reina Sofía University Hospital, Murcia, Spain.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17629/www.diagnosticpathology.eu-2016-2:231

Abstract

Background

Scanning histological or cytological preparations is a crucial element in the process of digitization of Pathology Departments, along with the traceability of tissue samples and the reports management. The scanning time and the high size of the files are still considered suboptimal for full implementation. In order to optimize time and space a comparative study of the workflow performed by histotechnicians in our center has been carried out.

Material & Methods

A total of 25 endoscopic samples were selected with the intention of comparing different parameters (scanning time, error rate during scanning and hard disk storage) between the original histological glass slides (group A: 2 slides per case, 50 preparations) and new sections, with levels grouped into a single slide (group B: 1 slide per case, 25 preparations). They were scanned at 20x magnification in routine way using the Ventana iScan Coreo scanner (Roche diagnostics). The process was repeated 4 times to calculate averages.

Results

The average scanning time was 5 hours 40 minutes (6m 48s / slide) in group A and 5 hours 10 minutes (12m 24s / slide) in group B. The error rate was 6.1% in group A and 3,8% in group B. The space occupied on the hard disk was 11.87 GB in group A and 9.6 GB in group B (475 MB/case vs 385 MB/case, respectively). The average number of tissue sections per case was 7 in group A and 8 in group B.

Conclusion

There is a clear benefit of standardizing and optimizing the number of cuts per slide in terms of storage (saving 19%), biopsy sampling (14% more tissue) and error rate (37% less), including a not negligible decrease in the scanning time (9%) in the study conducted.

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Published
2016-11-07
How to Cite
ALCARAZ MATEOS, Eduardo et al. The Technicians´ Role in Digital Pathology Implementation. Searching Optimization.. Diagnostic Pathology, [S.l.], v. 2, n. 1, nov. 2016. ISSN 2364-4893. Available at: <https://www.diagnosticpathology.eu/content/index.php/dpath/article/view/231>. Date accessed: 25 apr. 2024. doi: https://doi.org/10.17629/www.diagnosticpathology.eu-2016-2:231.
Citation Formats
Issue
Vol 2 No 1 (2016): 2016
Section
Research

Keywords

Digital Pathology; Histotechnician; Pathology Assistant; Resource Optimization.
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